The Workflow Engine

BWF/SWF Workflows are a set of tasks organized in a tree structure. The execution of a workflow means to perform the operation described in each task in the order obtained by the depth-first traversal of the tree.

Business workflows (BWF)

BWFs are the highest-level workflows while the subworkflows are building blocks that can be used in several higher level workflows.

SubWorkFlows (SWF)

SubWorkFlows can be attached in static or dynamic fashion.

Workflow templates

Workflow templates describe set of nodes, the execution order of the node sequence and node access logic for workflows. Access logic of workflow nodes is controlled by flow control variables. Templates can be modified until the first workflow instance is created. In case further modification of the template is required, new version of the template can be created.

Workflow instances

Based on workflow templates the workflow engine generates workflow instances.

Context area

The workflow engine can properly operate if all variables and data that control the operation of the workflow engine are available in a persistent manner. The variables and data will be stored in a specific structure that is called the context area (CA). CA is global for the entire business process. In case of order cancellation the CA of the original process will be available for the UNDO BWF.